Pastor Apollo Quiboloy, head of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ sect who is a self-declared “appointed son of God,” has warned that the world and his accusers will suffer a fate “much worse than the Omicron virus” if he is continuously “hurt and persecuted.”
Quiboloy, President Rodrigo Duterte’s spiritual adviser, faces child sex trafficking and financial fraud charges in the United States.
The sect leader on Sunday shot back at his accusers, calling it the “biggest assault and fire of persecution” that “maligned” his reputation.
Quiboloy declared during the Sunday worship service in Davao City, also the president’s hometown, that there will be a rise of “flesh-eating bacteria immune to any vaccine” that will afflict his alleged persecutors.
“Various variants of the COVID-19 are only an introduction. If you keep hurting, persecuting, and harming the appointed son in the kingdom, you will see much worse than the Omicron virus,” he told his followers.
“You might see in the future, people walking their flesh rotting away, but they’re still alive. Flesh-eating bacteria that are immune to any vaccine will come and destroy the inhabitants of the earth,” he added.
In the complaint against him, Quiboloy allegedly used his influence as religious chief to entice or coerce girls and young women to have sex with him during what they termed as “night duties”.
But Quiboloy belied the allegations. He admonished his “persecutors” of receiving a far worse judgment for “the way you treat the appointed son.”
“The day of the Lord is here — do not ever, ever play a joke, or continue to pursue the persecution of the appointed son because the Father in heaven has already declared through the appointed son. No one can escape this,” Quiboloy said.
“The way you treat the appointed son of God here is the way the world is going to receive its judgment… You want this to stop? Stop persecuting, prosecuting, maligning and falsely accusing the appointed son. If you continue to do that, the world will suffer,” he added.
It’s not the first time the pastor claimed to have dominion over the forces of nature.
In November 2019, Quiboloy declared that people should thank him for stopping the continuing aftershocks of the 6.6-magnitude earthquake that shook the province of North Cotabato and nearby provinces on the southern Mindanao island. The quake left at least 8 people dead and nearly 400 others injured.